Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Last time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine...

Odo!

What's wrong?

I... I don't know.

I think you did this to me.

You killed a changeling, Odo.

That's why we forced you to return home...

to enter the Great Link and be judged.

What have you done to him?

We made him a solid.

He's one of you now.

Captain...

I'm reading a heart...

lungs...

and a digestive system.

It's as if he were... human.

Will be considered the enemy and fired upon.

Captain...

it's him.

Gowron? What about him?

During the Link

I sensed that the other changelings

were trying to hide things from me...

faces, names...

one of them was him.

What are you saying?

I'm saying that he's one of them.

Gowron, the head of the Klingon Empire

is a changeling.

Where are they?

They should've been back hours ago.

Maybe the meeting with Starfleet Command

took longer than they thought it would.

Why haven't Sisko or Dax contacted us?

Well, the whole area they're traveling through

is crawling with Klingon ships.

They become a target.

I never should've let them leave in a runabout.

I should've insisted that they take the Defiant.

You did.

But the Captain's orders were clear.

As long as we're at war with the Klingons

we need the Defiant here to help protect the station.

All I know is, I'd hate to be dodging Klingon raiding parties

in nothing but a runabout.

It would take a fleet of Klingon ships

to breach the station's defenses.

I say we take the Defiant and go look for them.

I'm with Worf.

Glad the two of you are in agreement.

But, with the Captain gone, I am in charge of the station

and I say we stay.

You may be in charge of the station, Major

but I command the Defiant.

Mr. Worf

the Captain has given us our orders

and I intend for us to follow them

until he issues new ones.

Hold on a minute.

I'm reading a warp signature approaching the station.

It is the Rio Grande.

On screen.

Looks like they had a run-in with some Klingons.

Weapons systems, shields and com system

are all pretty shot up.

Life signs?

Two: One human, one Trill.

Permission to welcome the Captain back on board.

Permission granted.

Glad you made it back in one piece.

So are we.

How was your meeting with Starfleet Command?

I'm afraid the war is not going very well.

The Klingons are throwing everything they have at us.

Starfleet's been able to slow them down

but that's about all.

It's hard to believe

one changeling could cause so much chaos.

He can if he's impersonating

the leader of the Klingon Empire.

So is Starfleet going to do something

about Chancellor Gowron or not?

Oh, they're going to do something.

Starfleet's sending

an infiltration team to Klingon territory.

Their orders are to do whatever it takes

to prove that Gowron's a shape-shifter.

Tough assignment.

Who are they sending?

Me.

Captain, you're just in time for Happy Hour.

Do I look happy, Quark?

You think any of these people looked happy

when they walked in here?

How could they? There's a war going on.

But they come because they know I'll do everything in my power

to help them forget their troubles.

For a reasonable fee, of course.

Now, what can I do for you?

I'm looking for Odo.

Oh, Captain, we all have our failures, and he's mine.

Ever since he lost his shape-shifting abilities

I haven't been able to get a smile out of him.

Where is he? I'm telling you, Captain

that's one depressed ex-changeling.

He's upstairs at his usual table.

Just follow the black cloud.

Constable.

Listen, Captain...

do you hear it?

You mean the bubbles?

Soothing, isn't it?

You know, before I became a solid

I never heard that.

I had no sense of taste

so I never paid much attention to food or drink.

I had no idea how seductive they could be.

Ah...

Would you like me to get you a glass?

I'm on duty.

I'm not.

I thought you were always on duty.

Mm...

You know, at first

I found the whole process of ingestion disgusting.

But now that I've gotten used to it

I find eating and drinking

to be quite comforting.

It's one of the few things that you...

that we...

humanoids...

have control over.

Not necessarily.

There's always the temptation

to eat too much, to drink too much.

One has to find something to do with one's time.

For some reason, my work isn't as...

fulfilling as it used to be.

I might be able to do something about that.

Starfleet has ordered us

to try to expose the Gowron changeling.

I want you to come with us.

Hmm.

Maybe it would be better for you to take Deputy Yndar.

There's nothing I can do that he can't.

I don't need Yndar. I need you.

What you need is someone who can turn into Gowron's pet targ.

I can't do that anymore.

What I need is my Chief of Security.

There will be a staff meeting at 1600 hours.

I expect you to be there.

According to Starfleet Intelligence.

Chancellor Gowron has relocated.

Klingon military headquarters to Ty'Gokor.

That will make our job more difficult.

Ty'Gokor is located in an asteroid field

deep in Klingon space.

It is probably the most heavily fortified installation

in the Empire.

There are at least 30 warships stationed there

at any given time, and the entire asteroid field

is protected by a tachyon detection grid.

Which means there's no way

we can get a cloaked ship within transporter range.

Even if we do find a way

inside, getting close to Gowron will not be easy.

He is guarded around the clock

by his personal security force, the Yan-Isleth.

The Brotherhood of the Sword.

Look, I don't want to sound negative

but even if you do get to Gowron

how are you going to prove to the Klingons

he's a changeling?

I doubt he's going to stand still

and let us take a blood sample.

Klingons are obsessive about blood screenings.

If he's lasted this long

the changeling impersonating Gowron

must've already found a way around them.

There is another option.

We could kill him.

Dead changelings do revert to their gelatinous state.

Our orders are to expose Gowron, not assassinate him.

Which is why Starfleet has given us these.

Very impressive.

What are they?

They're modified polar on emitters.

Starfleet Science thinks that exposure

to polar on radiation will have a destabilizing effect

on changeling physiology.

In other words, if we use these on Gowron

and he is one of my people

he won't be able to retain his humanoid shape.

That's the theory.

The problem is

for it to work properly

you have to activate all four emitters at once.

With this.

I hate prototypes.

Plus, too much polar on radiation can be fatal